Bond now $1M for man accused of shooting Tarrant deputy. Original amount sparked outrage.

The bond for the man accused of shooting a Tarrant County sheriff’s deputy Monday at a Fort Worth bank was raised Tuesday afternoon to $1 million after outrage over the initial amount being set at $100,000, according to court records.

Tarrant County District Attorney Phil Sorrells said in an emailed statement to the Star-Telegram that his office earlier Tuesday requested the district judge raise the bond to $500,000. He said in a follow-up statement that he was thankful the bond was increased.

“I’m glad Judge (Ryan) Hill recognized the seriousness of this case and was receptive to our request to increase the bond,” Sorrells said.

Leland Williams, 35, is accused of shooting and wounding deputy Brent Brown, 35, while Brown was working off-duty security at Fort Worth Community Credit Union on Brentwood Stair Road, according to authorities. He faces a charge of attempted capital murder of a peace officer.

The suspect walked into the credit union, pulled out a handgun, and then shot the deputy in an exchange of gunfire before running away, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.

The deputy was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, where he spoke with Sheriff Bill Waybourn over the phone before going into surgery for two gunshot wounds to his chest and abdomen, sheriff’s office spokesperson Robbie Hoy said.

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While police, court and jail records listed the charge as “capital murder of a peace officer or fireman,” Fort Worth police said Tuesday that was an error in the way the charge was coded and would be corrected to attempted murder.

On Tuesday, Hoy told the Star-Telegram the deputy was up and walking around at the hospital.

Before the bond was raised, leaders in Tarrant County and the state shared outrage on social media over the original bond amount.

Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that a $100,000 bond for Williams was “absolutely ridiculous.”

Ramirez noted that with $100,000 bond, the suspect would have needed to put up $10,000 — 10% — through a bail bond agency to be released.

He told the Star-Telegram that authorities should use bond as one way to send a message.

“We have to send that message to society, that if you go out there and victimize a police officer, if you go out there and try to kill one of them, we will throw the book at you,” Ramirez said.

“There should be no bond for this felon,” Ramirez wrote on social media.

Tarrant County court records indicate Williams, while currently facing the felony charge of attempted capital murder of a peace officer, has no prior felony convictions in the county. The only previous conviction in court records is for a 2010 misdemeanor, theft of property valued between $50 and $500. Williams was sentenced to 15 days in jail and a $267 fine.

It’s unclear whether Williams has obtained an attorney to represent him in the current case.

The Fort Worth Police Officers Association posted that the initial bond amount set could “jeopardize the safety of our communities.”

“The evil criminal who shot a Tarrant County Sheriff’s deputy received a $100,000 bond, posing a potential threat of returning to your neighborhood today,” the association posted.

Jennifer Hackney-Szimanski, the public affairs coordinator for the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, or CLEAT, called Williams an “animal that shot a deputy yesterday twice in Tarrant County” and said bond of $100,000 for someone accused of attempted capital murder of a peace officer is something she would expect to see in Travis County.

Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare called the initial bond amount “outrageous and completely unacceptable.”

Bond is initially set by magistrates when someone accused of a crime is arraigned. The district attorney’s office can argue for a certain bond amount, but the decision is ultimately up to the magistrate judge.

The Tarrant County magistrate courts on Tuesday referred questions to the district attorney’s office.

Announcing his office’s request to increase the amount, Sorrells said, “We are going to do everything we can to protect those who protect us. I am going to make sure that, like Officer Brown, we go the extra mile in seeking justice.”

Ramirez, who was a police officer until he was elected to the Tarrant County Commissioners Court, said the bond amount set by a magistrate was insulting.

“We were disgusted,” Ramirez said. “It’s a slap in the face of every police officer that’s out there putting their lives on the line every single day.”

Ramirez told the Star-Telegram that even a $500,000 bond wouldn’t be enough for someone accused of trying to kill a police officer, but that he appreciated that the district attorney’s office requested the increase.

An attack on a police officer is an attack on the entire community, Ramirez said. He thinks Williams should have been denied bond.

“We have to understand that when police officers are victims of crimes, the entire community is a victim,” Ramirez said. “Police officers are out there to protect our communities and that’s what Deputy Brown was doing.”

The Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to Star-Telegram requests for comment on the bond Tuesday.

How reasonable was Williams’ bond?

Matthew D. Sharp, a criminal defense attorney from the Houston area, said bond set at $100,000 isn’t unreasonable for this charge.

“I can understand the police officers association is upset about that, but it’s really not unreasonable,” Sharp told the Star-Telegram. “Most people accused of the crime that he’s accused of are not going to be able to make the bond.”

Sharp said judges and magistrates consider factors including the severity of the case, flight risk, criminal history, danger to the community and the defendant’s financial means when setting bond. Tarrant County court records and a search of other public records indicated the 2010 misdemeanor theft conviction is the only one Williams has on his record.

Sharp said that the district attorney’s request to raise the bond to $500,000 likely had less to do with keeping Williams in jail until trial than making a statement, especially one directed at the police officers association.

“It’s probably more symbolism than anything else,” Sharp said. “It’s to show the police officers union that they have their back.”

No matter the bond set, Sharp said it’s important to remember that everyone is, and should be seen as, innocent until proven guilty.

“All that bond really is, is a means of securing the defendant’s appearance in court,” he said.